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Dale Earnhardt Jr Offers a Peculiarly Cool 3-Word Take on Ross Chastain & Kyle Larson’s Unanticipated Darlington Drama

Published 05/16/2023, 3:35 PM EDT

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Besides all the chaos and pandemonium in Sunday’s caution-riddled race that saw six cars getting wrecked, Ross Chastain still remains the top antagonist of the Cup Series season. The Floridian yet again stole the show with a late tangle with his bitter rival Kyle Larson.

But this time, Chastain did not get away with his stunt as Larson furiously retaliated as rammed into the #1 Chevy, taking Chastain for a brief ride until the car was deemed out of contention.

While the dramatic episode in Darlington baffled many fans, NASCAR veteran and 2-time Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr was “expecting” it.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr reveals his mind as he discusses the fiasco with co-host

The race turned out to be an epic ride for fans who witnessed massive pileups. It didn’t come as a surprise to many that Chastain was involved in crashes more than once. Chastain and Kyle Larson did not disappoint their fans as both put gritty back and forth with Chastain at the receiving end.

Reflecting on the recent race, Dale Jr came down to the Bojangles studio with his friend and co-host, Mike Davis, as he gave his thoughts on the epic stunt. The recent podcast episode had the duo discuss various topics starting from the upcoming All-star race.

But the veteran just couldn’t resist talking about the Larson-Chastain incident. Davis asked him if he was expecting such an episode, given Chastain’s in-your-face kind of racing.

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Dale Jr said that he wasn’t expecting such a turnaround but instead, he hoped to see both the drivers going neck and neck to the finish. He said, I wasn’t expecting it. I was hoping that we’re gonna have a race to the finish between the two of them. I was expecting that but I was not surprised you know when they crash, I’m not like, ‘I can’t believe I’m seeing this.’ I’m like, ‘Well, you know two guys that are bull-headed and absolutely both gonna send it into the corner.'”

Even as he said he was not expecting such an outcome, the 48-year-old sort of anticipated the route the drivers were taking once both entered the corner, Dale Jr said, They were on a collision course down that straight away off into the corner, it was inevitable.”

Despite the whole Cup Series roster against the Trackhouse Racing Team‘s star driver and his super-aggressive style going against him, Dale Jr is of the opinion that Chastain is still “mistake-prone” and raw.

Even as the whole roster despises Chastain, Dale Jr wishes there were more like him

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Simply put, Chastain is certainly a polarising driver. With all the altercations and stunts the driver’s involved in, there is no question of why there’s persistent hate for the driver. On the contrary, it’s this same balls-to-the-wall approach that his fans love and adore.

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Likewise, even as more drivers detest the #1 driver, Dale Jr feels that more drivers should embrace the rawness Chastain brings to the tracks. He said, Ross is raw and still mistake-prone, right and we’ve seen it.”

Ross is still finding those limits but I’ll tell you. Man, I love, I wish there were more people out there that were willing to go over, over the limit, over the line,” added the veteran. 

via Getty

With each race raising the bar even higher, the Cup Series is definitely something that you want to miss out on. Also with the much-awaited All-Star Race around the corner, the community is certainly hoping for an epic showdown at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

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Written by:

Kishore R

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Kishore is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. With a degree in engineering, Kishore's love for automobiles, particularly the roaring naturally-aspirated V8s, naturally led him to NASCAR. Kishore's writing is characterized by his intense passion for the sport, as well as his ability to conduct in-depth research and analysis.
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Edited by:

Nischal Kandpal